Human rights defender and journalist Raghunath Kha released on bail after being subjected to torture
On 29 January 2023, human rights defender and journalist Raghunath Kha was released from Sathkira District Jail after Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Md Ziaul Islam granted him bail.
On 23 January 2023, human rights defender and journalist Raghunath Kha was detained by police dressed in civilian clothes near the Day Night College area. He was then officially arrested at the Debhata Police Station, in Satkhira, seven hours after he was arrested by the plain clothese police. The human rights defender was detained on his way home from a work visit, where he had been dealing with a land rights issue in the Khalishakhali area of Satkhira district.
Raghunath Kha is the local correspondent for the a regional newspaper Dainik Projonmo Ekattor and privately owned national broadcaster Deepto TV. He has also been part of the district Human Rights Defender network since 2006 and became one of the key voices advocating for landless people and minority communities. Raghunath Kha joined the Satkhira landless leaders in advocating for the rights of the landless people who face human rights violations due to land takeovers. This land had been awarded to underprivileged communities, but has since been forceibly occupied by land grabbers, who have taken over substantial amounts of land belonging to landless communities in the Khalishakhali area of Debhata Upazila. Raghunath Kha has actively called out these land grabbers in his journalistic work.
On 29 January 2023, human rights defender and journalist Raghunath Kha was released from Sathkira District Jail after Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Md Ziaul Islam granted him bail.
On 23 January 2023 Raghunath Kha was detained by police dressed in civilian clothes near the Day Night College of Satkhira and was taken to Debhata police station. After being detained for seven hours, he was arrested for offences under the Special Powers Act 1974 and the Explosives Substances Act 1908. Raghunath Kha was kept at Debhata police station overnight during which time he was denied access to his lawyer and was not allowed to see anyone from his family. He was brought to Satkhira District Court the next day at around 5pm. The Court made an order for his pretrial detention while his case continues to be investigated.
After his release, Raghunath complained about being tortured in custody. He told media ‘I was blindfolded at the police station and was taken to the Detective Branch of Policy Office, where they put devices on both my ears and electrocuted me repeatedly for half an hour. They beat me on my feet with a stick. They filmed repeatedly and criticised me for my writing’.
On 23 January 2023, human rights defender and journalist Raghunath Kha was detained by police dressed in civilian clothes near the Day Night College area. He was then officially arrested at the Debhata Police Station, in Satkhira, seven hours after he was arrested by the plain-clothes police. The human rights defender was detained on his way home from a work visit, where he had been dealing with a land rights issue in the Khalishakhali area of Satkhira district.
Raghunath Kha is the local correspondent for the a regional newspaper Dainik Projonmo Ekattor and privately owned national broadcaster Deepto TV. He has also been part of the district Human Rights Defender network since 2006 and became one of the key voices advocating for landless people and minority communities. Raghunath Kha joined the Satkhira landless leaders in advocating for the rights of the landless people who face human rights violations due to land takeovers. This land had been awarded to underprivileged communities, but has since been forceibly occupied by land grabbers, who have taken over substantial amounts of land belonging to landless communities in the Khalishakhali area of Debhata Upazila. Raghunath Kha has actively called out these land grabbers in his journalistic work.
On 23 January 2023, journalist Raghunath Kha left his house at around 6am using a rented motorbike, and drove to the Khalishakhali area of Debhata upazila where the landless people have, for some time, been in conflict with land grabbers. After taking photos in the area, he started his journey home. Around 10.30am, two men in plain clothes, identifying themselves as law enforcement agents, stopped their motorbikes near the Day Night College and took Raghunath Kha on another motorbike. Later, when Raghunath Kha’s wife went to Satkhira police station, the police said that they did not know anything about the incident. Seven hours after he was picked up, Raghunath Kha was taken to Debhata police station and arrested for offences under the Special Powers Act 1974 and the Explosives Substances Act 1908.
Raghunath Kha was kept at Debhata police station overnight and was not allowed to meet his lawyer or anyone from his family. He was brought to Satkhira District Court the next day around 5pm. This delay amounts to a vioation of the Bangladesh Code of Criminal Procedure, which provides that police must bring an arrested person before a court within 24 hours of arrest. The court ordered that he should be held in pretrial detention while his case is investigated.
The police charged Raghunath in two distinct cases: in the first, he is charged under Sections 15(3) and 25 D of the Special Powers Act 1974, Sections 3, 4, and 6 of the Explosives Substances Act 1908, and in the second, under Sections 385 and 448 of the Penal Code 1860. Raghunath Kha is currently being held in Sathkira District Jail.
Front Line Defenders believes that the reported abduction and charges filed against Raghunath Kha are directly related to his work in defence of the human rights of the landless people in Satkhira. Front Line Defenders is seriously concerned for the physical and psychological wellbeing of Raghunath Kha.
